FACTA UNIVERSITATIS

Series: Physical Education and Sport Vol. 9, No 3, 2011, pp. 283 - 293

Original empirical article

THE LEVEL OF SPEED AND AGILITY OF DIFFERENT TYPES

OF ELITE FEMALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS

UDC 796.323.2:-055.2
Frane Erulj1, Mitja Brai2, Saa Jakovljevi3
1

University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport, Gortanova 22, p.p.2, 1110 Ljubljana, Slovenia
2
Zavod za varstvo pri delu d.d., Center za Medicino in port, Chengdujska cesta 25,
1260 Ljubljana-Polje, Slovenija
3
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, Blagoja Parovica 156,
11030 Belgrade, Serbia
Abstract. In basketball, as in other team ball sports, speed is a complex ability which
significantly affects playing performance. The aim of this study was to establish and
analyze the development level of speed and agility of different types of female basketball
players from the senior womens national teams of Slovenia and Serbia. The guards, the
forwards and the centers were compared, and any differences between them established.
The study results showed a difference between individual player types in terms of body
height and body weight, and some differences were also established in the tests of
acceleration with the ball and without it. After eliminating the influence of body height
and body weight, the differences in the speed of acceleration decrease and become
statistically insignificant. The strongest influence was still observed in the S20 (the 20metre sprint) and V20 (20-metre dribbling) tests, i.e. with the two variables in which
ANOVA shows statistically significant differences between individual player types. In view
of the study results, it can be concluded that body height and body weight significantly
influence the speed of acceleration, i.e. cyclic speed, even among highly qualified female
basketball players at a high international level, whereas the influence of the
abovementioned morphological characteristics on the speed of performance of acyclic
and agility movement is weaker.
Key words: basketball, senior women, motor tests, speed.

Received October 06, 2011 / Accepted November 25, 2011

Corresponding author: Frane Erulj
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport, Gortanova 22, p.p.2, 1110 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tel: (01) 520 77 00 Fax: (01) 520 77 40 E-mail: Frane.Erculj@fsp.uni-lj.si

Acknowledgements. This study was conducted in the framework of the research program Kinesiology of
Monostructural, Polystructural and Conventional Sports headed by Milan oh, PhD. The authors would like to
thank FIBA Europe and the Basketball Federation of Slovenia for their co-operation, as well as the basketball
players and their coaches for participating in the study.

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INTRODUCTION
Speed as a psychomotor ability and the related attributes have an important effect on
basketball playing performance (Erulj, 2004; Juki, Milanovi, & Vuleta, 2005; Zwierko
& Lesiakowski, 2007). Movements such as short sprints, fast changes in direction and
rhythm (speed), stopping, acceleration and rapid reactions to a given playing situation require a high level of speed development from a basketball player. A player who is not
fast enough cannot succeed in modern top-level basketball (Deman & Erulj, 2005).
Perhaps the only exception to this rule is an extremely tall player (centre); however, there
are increasingly fewer of them with inadequately developed speed abilities. It is because
of the abovementioned factors and hereditary determination that speed has become an
important factor in the selection of basketball players. The appropriate age when young
boys and girls should be directed to basketball has already been determined, and, thus, all
the subsequent selection phases (Deman & Erulj, 2005).
In basketball, as with other team ball games, speed is a complex ability. Generally
speaking, speed is an ability which enables a basketball player to move as fast as possible
at a given degree of resistance. This movement can be acyclic or cyclic and, consequently, the speed can be acyclic or cyclic (Komi, 2003; Deman & Erulj, 2005; oh &
Hofman, 2003). If the resistance against which the muscles move is high, then the speed
or the efficiency of movement largely depends on speed strength.
Specific types of speed, as required in modern basketball, also include agility. Although expert literature abounds with different definitions of agility (Brittenham, 1996;
Bompa, 1999; Miller et al., 2001; Sheppard & Young, 2006), the prevailing one is that
agility is the ability to rapidly change the direction and rhythm (speed) of movement.
Many authors emphasize its importance in the context of the prevention of sport injuries,
while some consider it to be a prerequisite for high-level basketball performance (Jake
& Pinter, 2006). Agility comes to the forefront mainly in polystructural complex sports in
which movement structures that require many changes of direction of movement prevail
(oh & Hofman, 2003).
Basketball movements are executed with and without the ball; therefore, in basketball,
the speed of movement and agility are divided into those with a ball and those without it.
Fast transfers of the ball from the back court to the front court (especially in counter-attacks), faking and penetrating, transitions to dribbling, penetrating and some other
movements all require highly developed speed and agility with the ball. Getting open,
cutting to the basket, fast running to defend or attack as well as defend against getting
open, cutting and faking and penetrating are movements in which speed and agility without the ball come to the foreground.
There are three basic player types in basketball who perform different roles in the
play and also differ in terms of playing characteristics (Sampaio et al., 2006): guards,
forwards and centers. If a specific player type is to show a high-level of performance and
efficiently fulfill his playing role, he must not only have adequate technical and tactical
knowledge but also suitable dimensions of psychosomatic status. Individual playing roles
require a specific movement structure and, consequently, an adequate level of motor
abilities (motor potential) (Erulj, 1998; Trnini & Dizdar, 2000; Deman, Trnini, &
Dizdar, 2001; Trnini, Karaleji, Jakovljevi, Jelaska, 2010a; Trnini, Karaleji,
Jakovljevi, Jelaska, 2010b). Different levels of development of speed and agility were
established in different types of male and female basketball players (Tsitskarsis et al.,

The Level of Speed and Agility of Different Types of Elite Female Basketball Players

285

2003; Erulj, Deman, & Vukovi, 2003; Erulj, 2004; Erulj et al., 2009). As a rule,
the guards dominate in terms of speed and agility, with and without the ball. The guards
are followed by the forwards, whereas the centers generally score the worst results in the
basketball motor tests designed to examine this ability (Erulj, 1998; Erulj et al., 2009).
Shorter players have the advantage in motor tests, because with their lower centre of
gravity, lower mass and faster nerve-impulse flow due to shorter limbs, they can change
direction, accelerate or brake quicker and more easily. A part of the variance of the results in the tests also depends on proper technique with or without the ball, in which
shorter players are usually more successful (Deman, Erulj, & Vukovi, 2002).
In this study, different types of speed were assessed using different measuring instruments (motor tests), which (in terms of muscular activity and co-ordination of agonists
and antagonists) represented the predominant types of speed in real situations in basketball. The main aim of this study was to establish and analyze the development level of
speed and agility of different types of elite senior women basketball players, using a
sample of the top quality female basketball players of Slovenia and Serbia. The data on
the structure and development level of speed and agility of top-level female basketball
players enabled model values to be generated and international quality norms to be formulated, which can greatly assist both basketball coaches and basketball researchers. Another aim of this study was to establish any differences between the guards, the forwards
and the centers in terms of the results of selected speed and agility tests. In contrast to
most previous studies, the differences between the player groups will also be established
after the elimination of the influence of body height and body weight, since these differ
significantly between player types and determine their playing roles.
METHODS
Sample of participants
The sample of participants consisted of twenty-six (26) female basketball players,
members of the national teams of Slovenia and Serbia. Their average age was 25.12
(3.60) years, body height 181.85 ( 9.05) cm and body weight 74.23 (12.72) kg. Both
(national) teams included 13 basketball players: four guards, four forwards and five centers. Two centers of the Slovenian national team had to be excluded from the sample due
to injuries. The study participants were tested after the end of the senior womens
2009/2010 competitive season, when their national teams had only just started their
preparations for the 2011 European Championship qualifications. The measurements
were made in June and July 2010 on Zlatibor (Serbia) and alec (Slovenia). Before the
testing, the participants signed informed consents. All of the tested players were healthy
and had no injuries.
The sample of variables included two anthropometric measures (body height and
body weight) and seven (7) measuring instruments (motor tests) to assess different speed
types.

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F. ERULJ, M. BRAI, S. JAKOVLJEVI

Measures and Procedures

Cyclic speed tests, i.e. acceleration with the ball and without it (S20, D20), were conducted using a system of infra-red photocells (Brower Timing System, USA). The measurement procedure and test implementation were described in detail by Deman and Erulj (2005). The same applies to the test of agility without the ball (S6X5) and with the
ball (D6X5). The SS (side-shuffling in a defensive stance), DJ25S (side-shuffling in a defensive stance from a drop jump) and ZZS (zigzag side-shuffling in a defensive stance)
tests were constructed specifically for this study and are therefore presented in a greater
detail.
3m

1m

FINISH

PHOTOCELL

1m

3m

START

PHOTOCELL

BOX
25 cm

PHOTOCELL

PHOTOCELL

Fig. 1. SS (side-shuffling in a defensive stance) and

DJ25S (side-shuffling in a defensive stance from a drop jump)

Implementation of the SS test:

The participant assumes an initial position (defensive stance), so that the start line is
between her feet (the bodys centre of gravity is vertically above the start line) and the
feet (L, R) are shoulder-width apart. At the measurers signal, the participant starts sideshuffling (starting with the front leg) towards the finish line. The test is completed when
the participant crosses the finish line. The test is conducted to the left and right side.
Implementation of the DJ25S test:
The participant assumes the initial position on a 45-cm high vaulting box. At the
measurers signal, the participant performs a drop jump and after a landing on both feet
(with the start line between the feet, the body's centre of gravity is vertical above the line
and the feet shoulder-width apart) continues side-shuffling (starting with the front leg)
towards the finish line. The test is completed when the participant crosses the finish line.
The test is conducted to the left and right side.

The Level of Speed and Agility of Different Types of Elite Female Basketball Players
OPTOJUMP

287

OPTOJUMP

PHOTOCELL

1.5 m
3m
2m

PHOTOCELL

START
FINISH

2.5 m

2.5 m

2.5 m

OPTOJUMP

2.5 m

OPTOJUMP

PHOTOCELL
START

3m

L
1.5 m

PHOTOCELL

FINISH

2.5 m

2.5 m

2.5 m

2m

Fig. 2. ZZS (zigzag side-shuffling in a defensive stance)

Implementation of the ZZS test:
The participant assumes the initial position behind the starting line, with feet shoulderwidth apart, so that the participants back is to the direction of the movement. At the measurers signal, the participant starts side-shuffling backwards towards the first stand until she
crosses the line behind the stand with her external leg. She then changes the direction of
movement and continues with a spin move of the other leg towards the next stand. The
same pattern is performed until the finish line. The test is completed when the participant
crosses the finish line. The test is conducted to the left and right side.
To measure the time of the SS, DJ25S and ZZS motor tasks, a system of infrared
photocells was used (Brower Timing System, USA), while for the last two tests the OptoJump Next (Microgate, Italy) measuring technology was used, enabling measurement of
the contact times in a change of direction and a jump.
The data were processed using the SPSS 19.0 statistical software for Windows. The
following descriptive statistical data were calculated for the entire sample of participants:
mean value, standard deviation, standard error and minimal and maximal results. To establish the differences between the groups (types) of female basketball players, a oneway analysis of variance was used, along with a multivariate analysis of covariance to
eliminate the influence of body height and body weight. The statistical significance of the
differences was established at a 5% risk level.

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F. ERULJ, M. BRAI, S. JAKOVLJEVI

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

First, the basic characteristics of the selected variables were established for the entire
sample and both subsamples of participants, followed by a one-way analysis of variance
to identify any differences between individual player types.
Table 2 Descriptive statistics and differences between the player types

BH

BW

S20

D20

S6X5

D6X5

SS

DJ25S

ZZS

G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total
G
F
C
Total

Mean
171.38
181.25
190.70
181.85
63.13
73.13
84.00
74.23
3.5075
3.5788
3.7000
3.5909
3.6075
3.7638
3.9314
3.7604
8.8163
8.9125
9.0836
8.9311
9.0736
9.1900
9.4764
9.2441
.8900
.9050
.9500
.9150
.9064
.9014
.9536
.9205
5.3129
5.3379
5.4486
5.3664

Std. Dev.
6.163
2.053
3.164
9.054
7.220
3.758
13.474
12.726
.15012
.08659
.08505
.13379
.15908
.05706
.17743
.18838
.30371
.27575
.30943
.30327
.23720
.32591
.33537
.33528
.05058
.05686
.05715
.05831
.06799
.05742
.07825
.06923
.16613
.14597
.29842
.21223

Std. Error
2.179
.726
1.001
1.776
2.553
1.329
4.261
2.496
.05308
.03061
.03215
.02790
.05624
.02017
.06706
.03928
.10738
.09749
.11695
.06324
.08965
.11522
.12676
.07148
.01912
.02149
.02160
.01272
.02570
.02170
.02957
.01511
.06279
.05517
.11279
.04631

Min.
161
179
186
161
49
67
69
49
3.36
3.43
3.53
3.36
3.34
3.69
3.71
3.34
8.38
8.39
8.53
8.38
8.78
8.69
9.14
8.69
.82
.80
.85
.80
.82
.81
.82
.81
5.15
5.20
5.17
5.15

Max.
181
184
197
197
74
79
113
113
3.80
3.73
3.79
3.80
3.79
3.86
4.20
4.20
9.43
9.20
9.42
9.43
9.47
9.60
9.99
9.99
.97
.98
1.03
1.03
.98
.96
1.06
1.06
5.63
5.56
5.96
5.96

Sig.

49.640 .000

10.695 .001

5.525

.012

10.078 .001

1.547

.237

3.272

.060

2.260

.133

1.238

.314

.794

.467

* by ANOVA
Legend: BH body height, BW body weight, G guards; F forwards; C centers

The Level of Speed and Agility of Different Types of Elite Female Basketball Players

289

Basketball is a sport which involves several types of players. They assume different
playing roles that require players of a suitable height. Therefore, it is only natural that in
our study, which involved top quality senior women basketball players, statistically significant differences were observed between player types in terms of body height (BH)
and body weight (BW) (Table 2). As expected, the tallest and heaviest players are the
centers, followed by the forwards, whereas the guards are the smallest and lightest. The
difference between the guards and the centers in terms of average body height and average body weight was almost 20 cm and over 20 kg, respectively.
These marked differences in body height and playing position result in a specific profile and/or structure of motor abilities of individual player types. Irrespective of these
considerable differences in terms of arithmetic means, the conducted ANOVA showed
statistically significant differences only in the tests of speed of acceleration without the
ball and with it (S20, D20), whereas the differences in the test of shuttle dribbling
(D6X5) bordered on statistical significance. On average, the best results in practically all
of the tests were achieved by the guards (the only exception was DJ25S), followed by the
forwards, whereas the centers were the most inferior in all of the tests. Such results were
expected; they are also congruent with some previous studies (Erulj, Deman, & Vukovi, 2003; Tsitskarsis, Theoharopoulus, & Garefis, 2003; Erulj, Deman, & Vukovi,
2004; Erulj et al., 2009) and correspond to the guards playing role. An important element of this role is the rapid changes of direction of movement when getting open, faking
and penetrating, as well as fast acceleration over a longer distance when the ball is transferred to the front court and returned to the back court. One can also say that individual
types of players differ mostly in terms of the results of the tests with the ball (D20,
D6X5). Movements with the ball are more complex and more demanding in terms of coordination. Therefore, they are most efficiently and rapidly executed by the guards whose
technical knowledge is generally better and who dribble the ball the most (Erulj et al.,
2009). The playing role of the centers does not require such a high level of technical
knowledge and ball dribbling skills, whereas the forwards are somewhere between the
guards and the centers.
As already mentioned in the Introduction, differences between the motor abilities of individual types of basketball players have already been established and confirmed by previous studies; however, these mainly applied univariate methods (analysis of variance, the ttest). Therefore, our study aimed to confirm the existence of differences using the multivariate analysis of covariance. Given that individual player types differ considerably in
terms of their body height and body weight (Table 2), we decided to establish whether there
are any differences between them, even after the influence of both measures is eliminated.
Table 3 Estimated Marginal Means and Tests of Between-Subject Effects with body
height (BH) as a covariate

S20

D20

G
F
C
G
F
C

Mean
3.405
3.576
3.809
3.633
3.767
3.915

Std. Error
.074
.042
.073
.100
.057
.099

F Sig.

Partial Eta Squared

.089

.356

.847

.124

290

F. ERULJ, M. BRAI, S. JAKOVLJEVI

G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C

S6X5

D6X5

SS

DJ25S

ZZS

8.838
8.888
8.976
9.153
9.222
9.398
.911
.905
.929
.917
.901
.943
5.200
5.340
5.559

.181
.103
.180
.209
.119
.207
.037
.021
.037
.047
.027
.046
.144
.081
.142

.476

.012

.652

.032

.502

.025

.786

.050

.356

.109

*Covariates appearing in the model are evaluated at the following values: ATV = 181.43

Table 4 Estimated Marginal Means and Tests of Between-Subject Effects with body
weight (BW) as a covariate*

S20

D20

S6X5

D6X5

SS

DJ25S

ZZS

G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C
G
F
C

Mean
3.482
3.572
3.736
3.610
3.767
3.939
8.750
8.892
9.061
9.181
9.232
9.361
.889
.905
.951
.903
.901
.958
5.344
5.340
5.415

Std. Error
.054
.044
.056
.069
.057
.071
.127
.104
.131
.139
.114
.143
.026
.021
.027
.033
.027
.033
.101
.083
.104

F Sig.

Partial Eta Squared

.300

.326

.868

.322

.777

.112

.200

.038

.937

.120

.847

.092

.600

.018

*Covariates appearing in the model are evaluated at the following values: AT = 73.71.

The Level of Speed and Agility of Different Types of Elite Female Basketball Players

291

After eliminating the influence of body height and body weight (Tables 3 and 4), it
can be established that the differences between individual player types decrease but are
not completely eliminated. The trend of the centers achieving the worst results continued.
The differences in the Estimated Marginal Means after the elimination of the influence of
body height and body weight also decrease with technically more demanding movements,
which are performed with the ball and are most typical of the guards. It can be established that the influence of the covariates is not statistically significant in any of the dependent variables. In both covariates, the strength of the influence (Partial Eta Squared) is
the highest with the variables S20 and D20. The influence of body height and body
weight is thus the strongest in the tests of acceleration with and without the ball, namely
with the two variables where the ANOVA revealed the largest and statistically significant
differences between different player types. It is evident that in other motor tasks, body
height and body weight are less of a hindrance in achieving good results, which means
that there is a higher possibility of compensation on the account of the training of technique and co-ordination. This is by all means information that should also be considered
in practice, specifically in the training of elite female basketball players.

CONCLUSION
In view of the study results, it can be concluded that in a sample of top quality senior
women basketball players at the international level, the differences between individual
types of players can also be confirmed. The player types are markedly different in terms
of their body height and body weight, while differences were also established in the tests
of acceleration with and without the ball. Evidently, these are mainly the consequence of
differences in body height and body weight and less of different playing roles of individual player types and the required technical knowledge. After eliminating the effect of
body height and body weight, the differences between individual player types in terms of
acceleration with and without the ball decrease and become statistically insignificant. The
strongest influence was still observed in the tests S20 and D20, i.e. with the two variables
where the largest and/or statistically significant differences between individual player
types occur.
The study results show that body height and body weight significantly influenced the
speed of acceleration and/or the cyclic speed even among high-quality female basketball
players at a high international level, whereas the influence of the abovementioned morphological characteristics on the speed of performance of acyclic and agility movements
is weaker. Based on the findings of the study, we wish to emphasize the importance of
the training of technique and co-ordination for the tallest female basketball players (centers) with which they can to some extent compensate for their lack of speed in the execution of complex basketball movements due to their body height and body weight. A faster
execution of such movements enables tall female basketball players to broaden their
skills and boost their playing performance on the perimeter positions, which is also a
trend in modern elite basketball.

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F. ERULJ, M. BRAI, S. JAKOVLJEVI

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The Level of Speed and Agility of Different Types of Elite Female Basketball Players

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NIVO BRZINE I AGILNOSTI RAZLIITIH TIPOVA

VRHUNSKIH KOARKAICA
Frane Erulj, Mitja Brai, Saa Jakovljevi
U koarci kao i u ostalim timskim sportovima sa loptom, brzina je sloena sposobnost koja
znaajno utie na uinak u igri. Cilj ovog istraivanja je da odredi i analizira ravzoj nivoa brzine i
agilnosti vrhunskih koarkaica, koje igraju na razliitim pozicijama, seniorskih reprezentacija
Slovenije i Srbije. Poredili su se bekovi, krila i centri i odreivane su razlike menu njima.
Rezultati istraivanja pokazuju da postoji razlika izmeu pojedinanih vrsta igraa u pogledu
telesne visine i teine a naene su i neke razlike na testovima ubrzanja sa i bez lopte. Kada je
elimnisan uticaj telesne visine i telesne teine razlike u brzini ubrzanja su se smanjile i postale
statistiki beznaajne. Najvei uticaj je i dalje primeen na testovima S20 (sprint na 20m) i V20
(dribbling na 20 m), tj. kod dve varijable u kojima ANOVA pokazuje statistiki znaajne razlike
meu pojedinanim tipovima igraica. U svetlu rezultata studije, moe se zakljuiti da telesna
visina i telesna masa znaajno utiu na brzinu ubrzanja tj.na ciklinu brzinu, ak i kod visoko
kvalifikovnaih koarkaica na meunarodnom nivou, dok je uticaj gore navedenih morfolokih
karakteristika na brzinu izvoenja aciklinih pokreta i okretnosti slabiji.
Kljune rei: koarka / seniorke / motoriki testovi / brzina